Schools

Hopkins High School Plans to Extend TASC Program

The period will take place twice a week starting next year.

students next year will be able spend more time seeking extra help from their teachers

The wildly popular Teachers and Students Connecting (TASC) period will take place twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in the 2012-13 school year instead of the current once a week.

TASC is a 26-minute period between blocks one and two that the school district launched in 2011. Students can meet with teachers to get extra help, get together with other students to work on a group project or presentation, study individually or receive college planning information from guidance counselors.

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There were initial worries about whether people would actually use the time, said Nik Lightfoot, the district’s director of administrative services.

But the period has proved popular with both teachers and students. In a survey released earlier this month, 77 percent of students agreed that TASC was a useful way to get extra help and only 9 percent disagreed. Even more students, 84 percent, said it was a helpful way of making up assignments.

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“It’s super nice because some kids don’t have the opportunity to meet with a teacher outside of the class period because of extracurricular activities or transportation situations,” said Tim Bergeland, a student member of the School Board. “And it’s really hard to schedule a time because the teachers are super busy. So TASC has been so helpful.”

Teachers were nearly as positive. In the same survey, 76 percent said it was a helpful tool in working with students while 73 percent said it was a good way to help struggling students.

Majorities of both teachers and students said the period also helps build relationships between the two groups.

 

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